Weicker used the occasion of a nominating speech for Groark to reflect on his own 30-year political career, from his election as first selectman of Greenwich to his glory years in the U.S. Senate to his triumphant return to the governor's mansion four years ago.

In front of a friendly audience, a teary-eyed Weicker looked back nostalgically at the campaigns and camaraderie of a life spent in politics. With 11 victories and, yes, he admitted, one memorable defeat in 1988, Weicker said it was worth every minute.

Weicker, who is not seeking re-election, closed his nominating speech for Groark with a look back.

``And so left alone on the stage of politics, I ask myself . . . what was it all about, this 30 years of victory,'' he said.

``Was it about the adulation of millions during Watergate, or the hate of 40,000 on the passage of an income tax? Was it the uniqueness of being an independent governor or the embarrassment of a night in jail protesting apartheid? Was it the abuse for standing alone with those suffering from AIDS or the invectives of televangelists when protecting separation of church and state?

``Was it the joy of putting into law a real life for America's disabled, or is it the sadness of this final farewell?''

The answer, Weicker said, was all of the above and more. Most importantly, he said, ``it was and is about what I see in the eyes and smiles of those Americans who a nation left behind. Where a majority felt unsafe, I have always felt safest.''

With his wife, Claudia, dabbing tears behind him on the stage, Weicker bid farewell to the party that engineered his triumphant resurrection as a politician after his only defeat -- the bitter 1988 loss to U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn.

In a final irony, Weicker's party later in the evening endorsed Lieberman for a second term.